TOMS RIVER, NJ – Toms River Mayor Dan Rodrick wants to bolster the experience level of his town’s police department with more seasoned veteran police officers and military veterans, but Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer is trying to put the brakes on the plan.
Billhimer, appointed by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, says hiring veterans and experienced police officers in lieu of a college degree will ‘lower the standards’ of the police department.
Ironically, Billhimer’s own police detectives within his department do not need a college degree. According to county documents, detectives within the prosecutor’s office only need a high school diploma.
“Bilhimer’s own detectives only require a high school diploma, as do 194 civil service departments,” Rodrick said. “He is a far-left liberal hypocrite appointed by the Murphy administration, who places more value on an associate’s degree in psychology than in four years of military service. He is an embarrassment.”
Rodrick said the prosecutor seems to contradict himself in his letter commending the mayor for attracting veterans, but says he is lowering the standards by counting their service in place of college requirements.
“He can’t have it both ways,” Rodrick said.
Rodrick also said that the list of candidates to apply to become police officers is filled with family members, friends, and politically connected individuals. He wants to expand the pool to include veterans and veteran police officers looking to make a lateral move from another township’s department.
“This prosecutor needs to learn how to stay in his lane,” Rodrick said, implying that Billhimer has been meddling in township affairs behind the scenes since he took office.
The ongoing behind-closed-doors dispute between Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer and Toms River Township erupted into public view this week over a proposed ordinance aimed at expanding the pool of eligible police recruits — with the township accusing the prosecutor of hypocrisy and political meddling.
Billhimer, in a letter dated Tuesday, criticized the township’s move to revise educational requirements for police officer applicants: “Reducing entry requirements for sworn law enforcement officers poses a serious risk to public safety, community trust and the integrity of the profession,” he wrote.
Rodrick fired back, arguing that the proposal does not reduce standards — it modernizes them — by allowing military veterans and current police officers to qualify without additional college coursework. The mayor’s office also pointed out that most New Jersey municipalities follow similar hiring policies.
Those same standards do not apply to county agencies. In fact, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department, which now patrols the streets of Ocean County, does not even require a college degree.
Rodrick said that he is not removing the requirement for a college degree for everyone, only for existing licensed police officers and military veterans. Under Toms River’s current law, detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and Ocean County Sheriff’s Department would not be qualified to serve as police officers in Toms River.
Toms River recently had 10 officers file for retirement, and Rodrick said by only hiring new officers, the town would not be able to backfill those spots for a year, because of the time it takes to train new, inexperienced recruits and to send them to the police academy.
“Brad seems to be making this up as he goes,” Rodrick said. “What he wrote in that letter isn’t what is happening, but he wants everyone to believe it is, because either he doesn’t want military veterans to serve or he has some other political agenda or angle here.”
Billhimer did not explain why he is singling out Toms River when other towns have similar or lesser standards.
“I would rather take an experienced law enforcement officer from a sheriff’s department or a military police officer, or a combat veteran,” said Rodrick. “Even a seasoned detective from the prosecutor’s office. We need experienced officers. It’s a much better solution for our town.”
Toms River formally responded to Billhimer’s letter, curious as to why the town is being singled out when many other municipalities in the county have lower hiring standards than Toms River.
“It is unclear why you have elected to single out Toms River for your criticism of educational requirements,” Township Attorney Jean Cipriani wrote, noting that the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office (OCPO) itself does not require any college education for investigators who have five years of relevant investigative experience. “I also note that investigators in the Prosecutor’s Office who have five years of professional office and/or field experience conducting investigations, etc. are not required to have any college credits.”
The letter from the township highlighted hiring standards from surrounding Ocean County municipalities, showing that the proposed Toms River ordinance is consistent — and in some cases, more stringent — than neighboring towns.
In Barnegat Township, a police applicant “must be a high school graduate.”
chief of police expected to have a bachelor’s degree — although this may be waived.
Plumsted Township simply requires that an applicant “is able to read, write and speak the English language well and intelligently.”
Manchester Township allows applicants with either an associate’s degree, two years of college (64 credits), or an equivalent amount of active military service, calculated at 2.67 college credits per month of service.
Ocean Township requires satisfaction of statutory requirements and a Township Committee vote, with the
Mantoloking Borough mandates an associate’s degree or higher.
Island Heights Borough follows general state statutes without imposing additional educational criteria.
Howell Township requires a high school diploma and one of several alternatives: an associate’s degree, 65 college credits while actively pursuing a bachelor’s degree, two years of active military service, or a combination of 30 college credits and 12 months of active military service.
Rodrick said Billhimer, a Democrat appointee, is using his office to interfere and meddle in the day-to-day operations of his township.
The township and the mayor said that its revised ordinance would still require candidates to meet physical fitness, psychological, and background check standards — just as they always have — but would open the door for more veterans and experienced officers to serve the growing community.
The prosecutor’s criticism also included concern over the involvement of the mayor and business administrator in the police hiring process, which Cipriani dismissed as unfounded. Citing state statute N.J.S.A. §40A:14-118, the township stated that local governing bodies are legally permitted to oversee police operations and personnel decisions through a designated “appropriate authority.”
“The Township looks forward to the passage of the Ordinance so that it can enhance a currently diminished applicant pool and hire more officers to make the Toms River Township Police Department more excellent and robust than it already is,” Cipriani wrote.
Rodrick concluded, “This letter is nothing more than a political attack by Phil Murphy’s prosecutor against a Republican town and it has no substance and authority. We look forward to approving this ordinance tonight.”